Once a SURver, always a SURver? Not exactly.
In Us Weekly‘s new cover story ahead of Vanderpump Villa‘s return on April 24, Lisa Vanderpump reflected on her reality TV career — including what made Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules stand out, saying, “For me, Vanderpump Rules was more of a business show about mentoring, nurturing, dealing with all the dynamics. It wasn’t so intrusive personally.”
Vanderpump Rules began as a spinoff of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which Vanderpump starred on from 2010 to 2019. The series became its own cultural phenomenon as Vanderpump expanded her TV universe with Vanderpump Villa, Vanderpump Dogs and Overserved With Lisa Vanderpump.
Vanderpump’s staff was ultimately the draw and Vanderpump Rules specifically introduced Us to Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Katie Maloney, Tom Sandoval, Scheana Shay, Ariana Madix and Jax Taylor. Most of the reality stars no longer work at SUR but their lives have kept viewers at the edge of their seats.
The drama, however, became too much and the fallout of the Scandoval drama in 2023 affected the cast moving forward.
“It didn’t make sense anymore. I’d always said I would rather quit when we’re on top,” Vanderpump told Us about the season 12 overhaul. “I do not want to go down on a sinking ship. The group was splintered — it was done.”
Bravo ultimately confirmed in November 2024 that Vanderpump Rules will be returning, but with an entirely new cast. The show has since started filming and Vanderpump is excited for fans to see what is to come.
“It’s very rare that you see behind the scenes of a restaurant because no other restaurant is crazy enough to do that,” she teased. “When you get a lot of young, hot people, it always gets complicated.”
But with onscreen changes come shifts behind the scenes. In the aftermath of the cast overhaul, Vanderpump stayed in touch with some former VPR stars — but not all. Keep scrolling for a breakdown of where Vanderpump stands with each VPR alum:
Jax Taylor
Taylor, 45, was on Vanderpump Rules from 2013 until 2020. After welcoming son Cruz with then-wife Brittany Cartwright, the twosome joined the VPR spinoff The Valley (and called it quits).
Vanderpump hasn’t been in contact with Taylor recently, telling Us, “When they had Cruz [in 2021], I sent them all gifts — even though they were gone from the show. But no, I’m not really close to Jax. I think Jax kind of shot himself in the foot when he left. I looked at him and he was like, ‘This is my show.’ And I was just like, ‘No, this is my show. Bye.’”
Kristen Doute
Doute, 42, was another OG cast member from VPR who made the move to The Valley. But before she signed on for the spinoff, Doute was fired in June 2020 alongside Schroeder, 36, due to past racially insensitive behavior toward former costar Faith Stowers.
“I can’t let my good sense interfere with my choice as a producer [on The Valley]. I never really got along with her. She always made things complicated — even as a waitress [at SUR]. That’s probably why she was there in that group in the first place and she was intrinsically entwined with them,” Vanderpump told Us. “I make no secret of the fact that I’ve never been close to her. But if she’s part of a group, it’s about the authentic story.”
Vanderpump clarified she doesn’t “have a lot to do” with The Valley, adding, “Obviously they came from my show that I created. I’m involved with that with Jax and Brittany but I don’t really have a lot to do with that show. I’m executive producer but I think the people are good TV. They want to do it and they have a different perspective. You don’t always have to like somebody to enjoy them.”
Ariana Madix
Vanderpump had nothing but well wishes for Madix, 39, telling Us, “I love all of them for all their mishaps, foibles … everything. I do love all of them because it’s such an unusual experience to go through reality TV — even behind the scenes — to be there and be somebody that’s been a huge part of orchestrating it.”
She continued: “I brought [Ariana] from Villa Blanca into the show. I’m just glad she’s doing well. She knows that she has my support. … The fact that she’s happy in a relationship [with boyfriend Daniel Wai], I always said, ‘Don’t get mad. Just get even and then some.’”
Tom Sandoval
Two years after Sandoval’s affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, Sandoval, 42, remained in the public eye with appearances on Fox’s Special Forces and Peacock’s The Traitors.
“I don’t know the public perception. But he’s a very individual character and I think people have probably seen that [on The Traitors]. I haven’t watched it because having nighttime businesses, I don’t really have time to watch TV,” Vanderpump noted to Us. “But I hope that he is doing well and I always wish them well.”
Stassi Schroeder
Schroeder took a break from reality TV for five years before reuniting with Vanderpump on season 2 of Vanderpump Villa.
“There was a definite feel-good factor about her coming onto the show. We had a lot of fun together. It felt right,” Vanderpump shared before addressing Schroeder’s 2020 firing from VPR. “She is responsible. She’s definitely still Stassi, which separates her from most people and says things that most people wouldn’t even think of. But there’s an essence of responsibility for sure — that continually growth and responsibility.”
She continued: “I think [her husband] Beau [Clark] is very good for her. But she’s playful. I have great banter with her and she’s essentially the same.”
James Kennedy
Us confirmed in December 2024 that police were dispatched to the home Kennedy, 33, shared with then-girlfriend Ally Lewber in response to a call about an argument between a man and a woman. Kennedy was booked for misdemeanor domestic violence. According to police records, the victim — who was not immediately identified as Lewber — told the Burbank Police Department that “her boyfriend lifted her up and threw her to the ground.”
Kennedy and Lewber, 29, denied the abuse allegations and he ultimately did not face any charges.
“I give people chances. I believe people [mess] up and then they learn from it and they have to. But it’s like with James where he was in the headlines recently. I’ve had so much patience with him and I was so happy to see him with Ally doing so well,” she recalled. “I know [addiction is] a disease and we talk about that and you just at some point I had to say, ‘I cannot support this anymore’ with some people when they keep making the same mistakes. So that’s frustrating for sure.”
Vanderpump recalled speaking to Kennedy after his arrest.
“I said, ‘Before I speak to you, I want to speak to Ally and I want to understand it completely.’ So it was when she talked to me and reassured me and they were taking their time apart,” she recalled their last interaction. “I said, ‘I think that’s the best thing.’ But as I said, ‘People continually make mistakes when they’re young.’ So how they grow from it, that’s important to me.”
The stars of Vanderpump Rules are no strangers to controversy. The staff of Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR made their debut on Bravo in 2013 as part of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spinoff. The season 1 cast included Vanderpump, Stassi Schroeder, Jax Taylor, Katie Maloney, Tom Sandoval, Kristen Doute and Scheana Shay. […]
Ally Lewber
“I did talk to Ally at great length [after the arrest] and she did reassure me that nothing happened physically,” Vanderpump claimed about Kennedy’s December 2024 arrest. “They were just in a drunken nonsense. She did say nothing like that happened. I would have to talk to her to be reassured of that.”
Scheana Shay
“I haven’t spoken to Scheana but she almost grew up with me. She was at Villa Blanca for quite a few years. They’re all doing OK and I think Scheana is doing OK. Thankfully she’s got somebody loyal by her side [husband Brock Davies] because she had a hell of a roller coaster with different relationships,” Vanderpump noted. “I heard that she was on The Masked Singer, which is something that I know she would love because she talked about being on Dancing With the Stars.”
Vanderpump pointed out that she “can’t talk” to everyone from the show “all the time.”
“Remember, I have 700 people that work for me,” she added. “As long as they know I’m always there if they need me.”
Tom Schwartz
Vanderpump confirmed she talks to Schwartz “quite a lot” these days. She also weighed in on Schwartz’s business with Sandoval, adding, “[Before the VPR overhaul], most of them had been smart and built something on their own. It was hard to see the boys go through the whole thing with Schwartz and Sandy’s [closing]. That was very, very difficult to see them go through that.”
Lala Kent
“I’ve always pulled her back in like with Stassi [where I have said], ‘You can do this. You’ve got this.’ We would often have intense conversations about being authentic. We talked about that always like, ‘Don’t tell us what you think we want to hear. Tell us how you feel,’” Vanderpump recalled. “But I love all of them. They’re frustrating. But over the years I’ve had an incredible time. Even through the downtimes of reality, I still would hardly change anything about it.”
